'The Cabin in the Woods' a Horror Movie With 'Element of Absurdity'

It's a rare thing for two movies made by Joss Whedon to be coming out in theaters so close to each other. Most of the time, Whedon takes a bit of time between projects and then hits audiences with a new, unique spin on whatever genre he's working within at the time.

But, thanks to delays and cosmic intervention, that's not the case for 2012. Whedon fans will be getting two months in a row of the writer/producer/director's handiwork.

In April, we'll see the release of the long-anticipated horror film "The Cabin in the Woods." Less than a month later, comic book fans will have their dreams come true when "The Avengers" hits theaters on May 4.

In the case of "Cabin," It's been a long three-year wait for producer/co-writer Whedon to finally see his film on the big screen. Strangely, it worked out for the best. The cast of young actors in the horror flick have since shot to stardom in several areas of entertainment.

"We're not angry at Chris [Hemsworth of 'Thor']. We're not angry at Jesse Williams for being on 'Grey's Anatomy' [or] Fran Kranz for being on Broadway in 'Death of a Salesman,'" Whedon said in a recent video interview. "It's OK if that's what they want to do with their time [Laughter]. [The delay] was a very dark cloud and this is an extraordinarily silver lining. It is really nice for us. It's a good time for it to be coming out. I feel Lionsgate is the right studio to be putting it out. Everything that fell apart has come together in an extraordinary way. It was really painful. Now it feels really serendipitous."

The ads for "The Cabin in the Woods" can be confusing. Parts of the film look like your typical slasher film where kids go to party in the woods and get hacked up. Another part, though, looks like a technologically based, complex horror film. Whedon addressed the concerns of horror fans.

"The idea has an element of absurdity," he said. "Not so much that it's a comedy or it's a send-up of horror movies. It's a genuine horror movie."

Whedon continued to expand on the burden of selling a complex horror film to an audience through the use of a one- or two-minute trailer.

"We've been worried about the marketing for this movie since before we wrote it," the filmmaker explained. "Lionsgate has been really great. They understand that exact conundrum. They've approached it from the stance of, 'If you love horror, this is a classic horror movie. But, there's more behind it. If you don't love horror then you're in the party, too.'"

After all the different genres Whedon has explored over the years, from sci-fi to thrillers, why a return to the genre that originally put him on the map as a writer and director? What draws him and "Cabin" director/co-writer Drew Goddard to the world of fear and dread?

"We love horror. The horror that we love comes from something else that comes from something else that comes from something else," he said. "Everything is based in the earliest myths and the earliest urges. That lineage is fascinating to both of us. Even if it's just, 'Look how things went in the mid-1980s,' or if it's like, 'How did [people] feel a thousand years ago?' It's all part of the same urges. They're primal. We love being scared. We always have. Clearly that's not OK. There's something wrong with all of us and we celebrate that."

For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:

'Mirror Mirror' Mixed in Eyes of Critics, Viewers

Peter Bogdanovich Reflects on Roger Corman

Critics Suffer 'Wrath of the Titans,' Moviegoers Celebrate

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